Podcast appearances and mentions of Guy Lombardo

During the month of May, many states host an annual event on the governor's conference on "Aging." At these conferences, older Americans may learn new ways for healthy living and lifelong learning. Some time ago, my friend Mary shared an article entitled, "Nostalgia," which I feel may be interesting to our readers as they review the changes of the century. "Over the last 50 to 60 years, we have been witnesses to many changes in our lives...Here are just a few of them: We were born before cordless phones, fax machines and ice makers. Who ever heard of organ transplants or root canals? Horsepower was something to do with a horse. Callers rang the doorbell instead of blowing their horn. The fallout problem was something kept under your hat, and when folks sat down to dinner, they counted their blessings instead of calories. Guided missiles were rolling pins and frying pans. A babysitter was called a mother. A child had more brothers and sisters than fathers, and a car didn't wear out before it was paid for. A housewife canned food instead of taking it out of cans. Being a parent required more patience than money. Baths were taken once a week, and religion every day, and the only red menace was long winter underwear. $5 worth of groceries filled two bags, and when we were in school, the hard stuff meant algebra. We did without disposable diapers, velcro and scotch tape. Instead of the internet and the information superhighway, we had the party line. In our day, television was truly a luxury, and a black and white luxury at that. Tape meant to reel to reel, not cassettes or videos... and CDs were certificates of deposits, not compact discs, and owning a "hi-fi" was all the rage, and who could forget driving a Packard or a Nash? The only millionaires in baseball were the owners. Bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagens. Cars in our time met running boards, cranks, Model A Roadsters and rumble seats. A mouse was a furry little creature, not part of a computer, and the only babes politicians kissed were those in their mother's arms. We were before Hawaii and Alaska became states, Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer, Snoopy, DDT, interstate highways, Holiday Inns, air conditioned cars and decaffeinated anything. We came from a time when we left our front door open. College kids swallowed goldfish, not alcohol, and in our day, songs had a tune and the words made sense. "Hippie" meant big in the hips. A trip meant travel. Bread came from bakeries, not the min. We were before microwave popcorn, child proof medicine bottles, and cars with cruise control. Streaking was what happened when you washed windows. Holidays were for getting together, not for getting away. And remember when a chick was a chicken, not the girl down the street? Tennis shoes were only worn in PE class. Bathing suits would cover your knees. And when you said, "I don't have anything to do," your parents said, "Find something to do!" In our day, we would swing and sway with Sammy K, waltz with Wayne King, dance to Guy Lombardo, and polka with Leo Greco. We have survived all of these changes and many more. What an exciting time to have lived." Warm Thought: Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80, anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. Henry Ford. May you have many warm thoughts! Warm Thoughts from the Little Home on the Prairie Over a Cup of Tea, written by Dr. Luetta G. Werner. Published in the Marion Record May 21st, 1998. Download the Found Photo Freebie and cherish your memories of the past.Enjoy flipping through the Vintage Photo Book on your coffee table.I hope you enjoyed this podcast episode! Please follow along on this journey by going to visualbenedictions.com or following me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcast,Spotify,Stitcher, and Overcast. And don't forget to rate and review so more people can tune in! I'd greatly appreciate it.Till next time,Trina

Well, well, well. This week returns us to Midnight, but this time with Lombardo space marines on a search and recovery mission to a diamond mine that has gone silent. Another interesting future-tech gadget from the mind of RTD, with the TARDIS cracking the spacesuit selection for Belinda and the Doctor. But overall, David thought the Doctor's thinking and planning was sloppy and Ben thought the story was a bit choppy. Opening music is "Diamonds are Forever" composed and conducted by John Barry with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Closing music is a 1935 recording from Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians, "I'm Just an Ordinary Human". We recorded this episode on 29 April 2025.

This episode was originally released on 7/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes beginning with this episode on the birth of radio. ___________ In Breaking Walls episode 81, we spotlight the life and career of one of the twentieth century's most famous comedians, Fred Allen. Amongst other comedians and entertainers, almost no one was beloved as much as him. His comedic feud with Jack Benny was legendary, as were his battles with network executives and sponsors. Highlights: • John Sullivan is Born in Boston • What growing up in Boston with his aunt was like • How his job at the Boston Public library began his career in show business • Learning to Juggle and Early Amateur Performances • Harry LaToy and how Johnny Sullivan became Fred St. James • Freddie James: The World's Worst Juggler • Becoming Fred Allen and going on Broadway • Allen's Radio Birth—Bath Towels, Laxatives, and Mayonnaise • Town Hall Tonight is Born • Jack Benny—The Feud of the Century • Mr. Ramshaw— an Eagle on the loose • Changing networks • Texaco and Problems with NBC • King for a Day • Bowing out gracefully • Fred Allen: Memoirist • What's my Line? • Final Days The reading material used in today's episode was: • The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning • Treadmill to Oblivion & Much Ado About Me … both by Fred Allen Selected Music featured in today's Episode was: • Swingin' on a Star by Bing Crosby • Over There recorded live by George M. Cohan • Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo

Entre la comunidad afroamericana, la música y el baile siempre habían sido muy apreciados. En Nueva Orleans, por ejemplo, el número de pianos y fonógrafos per cápita era mayor en los barrios negros que en los blancos, a pesar de que una minoría no despreciable de afroamericanos tradicionalmente religiosos creía que el jazz y el blues debían considerarse y condenarse como “la música del diablo”. Con José Manuel Corrales.

Features vintage recordings by Al Donahue, Johnny Long and Guy Lombardo.  We also learn a little bit about the show Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands. Consider supporting The Big Band and Swing Podcast by becoming a Hepcat.  Learn more at SupportSwing.com. * The music featured in this podcast is considered Public Domain.  Artists are credited within the podcast.

After the final rendition of the Vulgarian National Anthem for 2024, the Fat One natters before closing out the LITTLE show with the annual recreation of New Year's Eve with Guy Lombardo and Ben Grauer in Time's Square. Happy National Champagne Day.

Here is the playlist for the 12/30 episode of the Seventh House. Enjoy!Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadiens- Auld Lang SyneU2- New Year's DayR.E.M.- It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)Icehouse- CrazyHeart- Crazy on YouNeil Young and Crazy Horse- Cinnamon GirlBilly Thorpe and the Aztecs- Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy)Brad Mehldau Trio- Still Crazy After All These YearsQueen- Stone Cold CrazyVan Morrison- Crazy LoveWas (Not Was)- Crazy WaterFishbone- Crazy GlueRobbie Robertson- Somewhere Down the Crazy RiverQueen- Crazy Little Thing Called LoveUtopia- You Make Me CrazySeal- CrazyChicago- Crazy HappyDan Fogelberg- Same Old Lang SyneCirculine- AllRachel Flowers- Rachel's ShuffleBlissBliss- Talking Through FencesThe Weever Sands- Oh, I Said, and Turned Vanilla (River I)DarWin- Hulks & HeroesHasse Froberg Musical Companion- No MessiahJon Anderson and the Band Geeks- Counties and CountriesBig Big Train- Last ElevenAnubis- The ChainsWendy & Lisa (w/Seal)- The Closing of the Year

Known for his unique "sweet jazz" sound, the big band leader was for decades the king of New Year's, predating Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest.

Welcome to the last episode of season 4. You know you can get close to new years eve and NOT have to listen to Guy Lombardo. WE are going to finish out 2024 on a really upbeat note. In fact, there's nothing like that two-beat music to send us out dancing. Our featured artist has a slightly more famous brother, but he certainly made a big name for himself as well. And on this record, he features music from the Big Easy, which was among my dad's favorite styles. So get ready to hear some energetic New Orleans music in Volume 209: Dixie Dorsey. More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it.  Credits and copyrights Jimmy Dorsey And His Original "Dorseyland" Jazz Band – Dixie By Dorsey Label: Columbia – CL 608, Columbia – CL-608 Format: Vinyl, LP, Hollywood Pressing Released: 1955 Genre: Jazz Style: Dixieland South Rampart Street Parade Written-By – Andy Razaf and Paul Denniker Jazz Me Blues Written-By – Tom Delaney That's A Plenty (That's a Party!) Written-By – Lew Pollack Struttin' With Some Barbecue Written-By – Lil Hardin Panama Written-By – Unknown Artist When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) Written-By – Joe Goodwin, Larry Shay, and Mark Fisher I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain. #jimmydorsey #dixielandjazz #happynewyear

Here is the playlist for the 12/29 episode of Crosswinds. Enjoy!Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadiens- Auld Lang SyneGlenn Miller and His Orchestra- In the MoodTommy Dorsey Orchestra- I'm Getting Sentimental Over YouWoody Herman Orchestra- Woodchopper's BallCount Basie Orchestra- The Kid From Red BankCount Basie Orchestra- Blues BackstageCount Basie Orchestra- CuteCount Basie Orchestra- April in ParisChristian McBride Big Band- Gettin' to ItJohn Beasley Monk'estra- 'Round MidnightArturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra- CimarronMcCoy Tyner Big Band- Blues for BasieSea Level- Tidal WaveDixie Dregs- Free FallBand of Other Brothers- Bar FightDan Fogelberg- Same Old Lang SyneWayne Shorter- Charcoal BluesHerbie Hancock- Dolphin DanceLouis Banks, Gary Bartz, Ron Carter, and Others- All BluesDave Brubeck Quartet- Blue Rondo a la TurkManhattan Transfer- Twilight Zone/Twilight ToneDavid Benoit- Linus and LucyCannonball Adderley- Dancing in the DarkLyle Lovett- Are We Dancing?Tony Bennett and Bill Evans- Dream DancingAhmad Jamal- Land of DreamsDynamo- DreamVasil Hadzimanov Band- Lines in SandGwilym Simcock, Tim Garland and Asaf Sirkis- Space JunkBruford- Travels With Myself (and Someone Else)Wendy & Lisa w/Seal- The Closing of the Year

Ein Update zum Jahresende! Melde dich und unterstütz mich doch auf Patreon oder mit Paypal: https://linktr.ee/deutschland33_45pod Outro-Musik: Auld Lang Syne (Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot) by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians (1939) Erwähnte Folgen keine Ausgewählte Literatur: Tags: #Neuere_und_neueste_Geschichte #Deutschland

In this episode we examine and listen to Disc #382 of the V-Disc Collection.  This V-Disc features vintage recordings by Woody Herman's Orchestra and Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians. (E040) * The musical performances and recordings featured in this podcast are in the Public Domain.  Artists are credited within the podcast.

El jazz, una de sus pasiones, está siempre presente en las películas de Woody Allen que, además, toca el clarinete con la Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Por orden cronológico de su filmografía: en 'Play it again, Sam' de 1972 ('As time goes by' por Arthur Wilson), en 'Everything you always wanted to know about sex (but you were afraid to ask) también de 1972 ('Let´s misbehave' por Irving Aaronson & The Commanders), en 'Annie Hall' de 1977 ('Sleepy lagoon' por la orquesta de Tommy Dorsey'), en 'Interiors' de 1978 ('Keepin out of mischief now' también por la orquesta de Tommy Dorsey), en 'Manhattan' de 1979 ('Rhapsody in blue' por la NBC Orchestra), en 'Stardust memories' de 1980 ('Moonlight serenade' por Glenn Miller, 'Stardust' por la orquesta de Louis Armstrong y 'I´ll see you in my dreams' por el trío de Django Reinhardt), en 'Zelig' de 1983 'A sailboat in the moonlight' por Guy Lombardo & his Royal Canadians'), en 'Hannah and her sisters' de 1986 ('I´ve heard that song before' y 'You made me love you' ambas por la orquesta de Harry James), en 'Radio days' de 1987 ('Body and soul' por el trío de Benny Goodman, 'Begin the beguine' por la orquesta de Artie Shaw, 'In the mood' por la de Glenn Miller y 'Opus one' y 'I´m getting sentimental over you' por la orquesta de Tommy Dorsey las dos.Escuchar audio

Songs include: South Sea Island Magic by Bing Crosby, Christmas Island by the Andrews Sisters, Island In the Sun by Harry Belafonte, Rock Island Line by the Weavers, Poor Little Rhode Island by Guy Lombardo and Isle of Capri by the Gaylords. 

Teddy Powell A lo largo de su vida y su carrera, se involucró en muchos aspectos del negocio de la música, como la dirección de bandas, la composición de canciones y la edición musical. Amable o agradable eran palabras que se utilizaban para describir la personalidad, la voz y la banda de Frankie Masters. Hacía amigos con bastante facilidad. A las personas que solían ir a bailar con su orquesta, él solía hablar con ellos, si se acercaban a hablar con él. Con José Manuel Corrales.

Robert Moses had a vision for Jones Beach in the 1920s that included a theater to bring high quality entertainment to the people. That theater on Zachs Bay went through a number of iterations but reached its height from 1954-1977 when it was under the direction of Guy Lombardo. Along with his brothers Carmen and Lebert, the Canadian-born band leader/impresario brought Broadway shows and original productions to the beach. Their stage was an 8,200-seat amphitheater with a host of spectacular additions including icebergs, waterfalls, showboats, and floating mansions. Richard Arnold Beattie got more than a front row seat, performing as a child actor in The Sound of Music and The King and I at Zachs Bay in the early 1970s. Although he went on to a career that included journalism, songwriting, and audio production, he never forgot his time at the Jones Beach Theater. He has captured the experience in a new audio documentary called From Broadway to Jones Beach, streaming now on Spotify and planned to be repackaged as an audiobook. Hear more on today's episode about the development of the Jones Beach Marine Theater and its connections to Broadway history and the Lombardo family who lived in nearby Freeport. You'll also get a preview of Richard's documentary through interviews with actors Connie Towers and June Angela. If you like your Broadway big – including Nazis in speedboats and sharks circling the stage – then you'll love this story. Further Research From Broadway to Jones Beach (Spotify) Louis Armstrong “Mardi Gras” with Guy Lombardo List of Jones Beach Theater productions (OVRTUR) Sound effect Overture and Fanfare.wav by Anapwodicn - License: Creative Commons 0 Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/ Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0  

A mixed bag of musical allsorts presented weekly by Ray Woodley, produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air. This week 78's Ray rescued from the dump featuring tracks from John Parkin, Guy Lombardo, Leroy Anderson, the Dutch Swing College, Les Paul, Donald Peers, Liberace, and Frankie Lane!

I'm not sure the person who gathered the music for this record understood what the assignment was. This is not at all what I expected the music to sound like after seeing the name of the album and the text on the cover. I mean, who hasn't enjoyed that Latin sound from Guy Lombardo, Billy May, Ray Anthony, and Joe Leahy? Good thing there's a song by Sergio Mendez here to lend the recording some credibility. The closest comparison I can come up with is that the music on this record is light and bouncy, quite like the Latin music my dad and I like so well. So, get ready to hear music from the most inappropriately titled record in my dad's collection, so far, in Volume 179: Viva the Latin Beat. More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it.  Credits and copyrights Various – Viva! Label: Creative Products – SL-6650, Capitol Records – SL-6650 Series: The Capitol Stereo Showcase Format: Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition Released: not sure what year but sometime in the 1970s based off the Series name. Genre: Jazz, Latin, Pop Billy May– Spanish Flea Written-By – Cissy Wechter, Julius Wechter Joe Leahy–Life Written-By – Joe Leahy, Mike Curb Ray Anthony– Danke Schoen Written-By – Bert Kaempfert, Kurt Schwabach, and Milt Gabler Guy Lombardo– A Banda Written-By – Chico Barque De Hollanda Guy Lombardo– A Taste Of Honey Written-By – Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow Sergio Mendes– Muito A Vontade Written-By – João Donato Joe Leahy– Arriba Written-By – Joe Leahy, Mike Curb I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

This wasn't our fault, is the takeaway  Send your questions to lifeintheworldtocome@gmail.com merch: lifeintheworldtocome.bigcartel.com patreon: patreon.com/lifeintheworldtocome discord: discord.gg/QMWMGPN (18+) instagram: @lifeintheworldtocome intro/outro music: "Auld Lang Syne", Guy Lombardo, 1947

How Mice and CRISPR are Reversing BlindnessOne small step for science, one furry leap for mousekind. Scientists have found a way to reverse a common mutation that causes blindness in both people and mice using gene editing technology.References:In Mouse Study, Scientists Use Gene Editing to Reverse a Major Cause of Blindness | US NewsCredits:Children's Songs by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians | Internet ArchiveThree Blind Mice - Beidernecke, Bix | Internet Archive

When does "old people's music" become your music, too?I think that happens in a couple of ways -- when you start playing it yourself, then something happens in your head and in your heart . . . and when you encounter magic in the night. Let's just call it "moonglow."Or, more properly, "Moonglow."That is what this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth is all about. Let's go deeper, and I'll use my own experience to do that.Big band was my parents' music, kind of like country, Lawrence Welk and Guy Lombardo. As a kid in the pre-digital age, I was force-fed three things on TV in the days of one or two TV sets in the house and just two channels in Baton Rouge. First, it was The Porter Wagoner Show. Second, The Lawrence Welk Show. Third, every Dec. 31, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians counting down to the new year . . . also pre-digital.OF COURSE, I was lucky to have grown up playing, and loving, the records bought by the younger version of my parents. We're talking jump blues, gut-bucket jump blues, Western swing, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers and Thin Elvis.The "race music" thing and my racist parents? One of the many contradictions of the segregated South. If you try to make sense of it, you'll fail.But then came high school, and high-school radio.Two of the shows I had to do as a student DJ at Baton Rouge High's FM station, WBRH, were the big-band show and the jazz show. I not only learned a lot (sometimes painfully), but I also learned to love the music -- "old folks'" music. Go figure.And then, when I was in college at Louisiana State, I discovered Moonglow With Martin on WRKF public radio, which then was a brand-new thing in Baton Rouge -- broadcasting from a house trailer on Frenchtown Road. The late-night show was a continuation of something legendary disc jockey Dick Martin had been doing, on various stations around the country, since the early 1950s on clear-channel, 50,000-watt WWL in New Orleans.Martin was a big-band and jazz DJ. He only played the good stuff -- the really good stuff. His show was, not to put too fine a point on it, magic. I missed out on his WWL show, and I was just a little kid when, after a stint in Kansas City, he brought it for a time to Baton Rouge's WJBO-FM in 1965. (Besides, who listened to FM in 1965? Apart from the folks in dentists' offices?)BUT I DIDN'T miss Moonglow With Martin on public radio after 'RKF came to my cultural-wasteland of a hometown in 1980. Seriously, people, we didn't have public TV until 1975; WBRH was the city's first noncommercial radio station since WLSU-FM went under in 1957. And we had only Channel 2 and Channel 9 until 1971, when we got an ABC affiliate, Channel 33.And in the white, working-class world of my childhood, subversiveness was called SOOOUL Train! But what about my parents' old race records? Do not try to square that circle; you'll hurt yourself.So, like my parents' old country and blues discs, and the Top-40 and progressive FM rock of my growing-up years, Dick Martin's Moonglow With Martin is in the Big Show. It's a marvelous mix of my youthful force-feedings, rebellion and . . . musical discovery.If you want to know what 3 Chords & the Truth is, exactly, it's me. And maybe it's you, too. Thank you, Mr. Martin.It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

Here is the playlist for the 01/01 episode of the Seventh House. Enjoy!Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians- Auld Lang SyneStatus Quo- Rockin' All Over the WorldIcehouse- CrazyQueen- Stone Cold CrazySeal- Crazyelectric asturias- Shippuu JinnaiGalahad- Behind the Veil of a SmileMoon Safari- Emma, Come OnComedy of Errors- We Are Such Stuff as Dreams are Made OnSteve Hackett- People of the SmokeRachel Flowers- Let's Have Some FunDan Fogelberg- Same Old Lang SyneTrevor Rabin- PushDownes Braide Association- Keep on MovingYes- Cut From the Stars (the tradition continues...)Big Big Train- OblivionCyan- Tomorrow's Here TodayFish on Friday- Jump This WallMariusz Duda- Mid Journey to freedomPeter Gabriel- Live and Let LiveJoshua Redman- Chicago Blueselectric asturias- Solace of the Caged BirdLiving Colour- Solace of YouAlison Goldfrapp- So Hard So HotRachel Flowers- HathawayChristina Booth- Rise AgainWendy & Lisa (w/Seal)- The Closing of the Year

Today's show features music performed by Guy Lombardo and Frank Stokes

On Aug. 18, 1969, legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix stepped onto the stage at the Woodstock, N.Y., Music Festival and embarked upon an uninterrupted set lasting nearly two hours--one of the longest performances of his career.FOUR MONTHS LATER...........December 31, 1969 -Prior to their two concerts later that evening, Hendrix and his Band Of Gypsys held an afternoon sound check and rehearsal at the Fillmore East.Fillmore East, New York Two Shows Prior to their two concerts later that evening, Hendrix and his Band Of Gypsys held an afternoon sound check and rehearsal at the Fillmore East. Later that evening, before a sold out crowd of 2,639, Hendrix rang in the New Year and new decade with two unforgettable performances. The evening's festivities opened with a spirited set by the Voices Of East Harlem, an enthusiastic young gospel ensemble. With the anticipation of the sold out Fillmore audience heightened to fever pitch, Hendrix led his trio through a scintillating, seventy-five minute opening performance. None of the eleven songs presented had yet to grace an Experience album. In the place of signature songs like “Purple Haze” and “All Along The Watchtower” were confident renditions of “Izabella” and “Hear My Train A Comin'”. At midnight, Kip Cohen, the venue's master of ceremonies, rang in the new year and decade buffeted by Guy Lombardo's “Auld Lang Syne”. Never one to be upstaged, Jimi and company greeted the joyous house with their own inspired reading of the holiday staple. For Amalie Rothschild, the Fillmore East's house photographer, the experience was an unforgettable one. “Then there was the countdown at midnight. It was the countdown that was a real scream. We're talking about the end of the Sixties. December 31, 1969 turning into January 1, 1970–.A new decade. This was significant. After all, we were living through it and we knew that the Sixties were the Sixties. We had this big countdown on the [Joshua White] light show screen with this big clock 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…and everybody is yelling together. Then the light show screen pulls up and everybody is on stage–all the crew and the musicians. Hendrix, who is now on stage, launches into this amazing rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne' and I filmed it [excerpts of Rothschild's color film footage can be seen in the VHS/DVD Band Of Gypsys]. This was history in the making. You could not miss this. His performance was just so inspired. It was just terrific and I can't find the words to describe it.” The recordings which make up both Band Of Gypsys and its two disc sequel Live At The Fillmore East certainly bear out Rothschild's remembrances. Jimi's celebrated work with the Band Of Gypsys stands among his most impressive and lasting achievements. After the show, Ian Dove of Record Mirror interviewed Jimi Hendrix for the January 10, 1970 edition of the British paper. Later that night, Hendrix retreated to The Café Caliph (previously known as The Café Au Go Go) in Greenwich Village where he joined The James Cotton Blues Band on stage for a jam.

Happy New Year's Eve!   When some of us think about our earliest memories of watching New Year's Eve on TV, we'll remember long before Ryan Seacrest and even before Dick Clark. This Guy, who brought the New York City ballroom celebration into our living rooms every year, goes back to even before this holiday was celebrated live on television.   He formed the band during 1924 in his hometown of London, Ontario, Canada and sold more than 100 million records. Maybe as many as 300 million.    So get ready to hear The Sweetest music this side of heaven, with a little sweet champagne to go with it, in Volume 157: 50 Years of Lombardo.   Credits and copyrights   Guy Lombardo – 50th Anniversary Album Label: Suffolk Marketing, Inc. – SMI-1-8M Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Compilation, Mono Released: 1977 Genre: Jazz, Pop Style: Big Band, Easy Listening   We will hear 8 of the 20 songs on the album.   Boo Hoo Written by Edward Heyman, John Jacob Loeb, Carmen Lombardo   Humoresque written by Howard Johnson, Hugo Frey, and Antonín Dvořák   Tales from the Vienna Woods written by Johann Strauss   Best Things In Life Are Free written by Ray Henderson, B.G. DeSylva, and Lew Brown   The Band Played On  written by John F. Palmer, and Charles B. Ward   Harbor Lights with Vocal Chorus by Kenny Gardner written by Jimmy Kennedy, and Hugh Williams   Third Man Theme written and performed by Anton Karas   Medley Moonlight & Roses written by Charles N. Daniels, Ben Black, Edwin Lemare Far Away Place written by Alex Kramer, Joan Whitney Auld Lang Syne Traditional   I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.  

Here is the playlist for the 12/31 episode of Crosswinds. Enjoy!Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians- Auld Lang SyneStan Kenton Orchestra- Intermission Riff (theme)Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band- Backrow PoliticsBobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band- Who Taught You ThatEd Palermo Big Band- This Won't Take :LongMaynard Ferguson- Give it OneDarcy James Argue's Secret Society- All InBuddy Rich Big Band- LingoCory Weeds Little Big Band- SoonDon Ellis Orchestra- Turkish BathHerbie Hancock- Hang Up Your Hang UpsStanley Clarke- Silly PuttyBilly Cobham- The Pleasant PheasantRachel Flowers- Let's Have Some FunHiromi- Reminicenceelectric asturias- Solace of the Caged BirdTim Garland- Bright New YearPat Metheny Unity Band- New YearHarry Connick Jr- What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?Joshua Redman- New YearDan Fogelberg- Same Old Lang SyneCurtis Mayfield- SuperflyRoberta Flack and Donny Hathaway- Where is the Love?Rachel Flowers- HathawayEva Cassidy- People Get Readyelectric asturias- Shippuu JinnaiBADBADNOTGOOD- Love ProceedingRodrigo Y Gabriela- The Eye That Catches the Dreammouse on the keys- PulseGoGo Penguin- GlimmeringsWendy & Lisa (w/Seal)- The Closing of the Year

Happy New Year to everyone as we welcome in the New Year. On the show today is a repeat of program I produced in 2016 called New Year's Radio Dance Party 1945-1946. The Armed Forces Radio Service gave a real treat to American troops still stationed around the world in the aftermath of World War II---live performances, by remote hookups from their respective New Year's Eve hotel and/or ballroom performances. We'll get to hear some of the titans of the time in American jazz and popular music. Including but not limited to Harry James, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Dorsey, Artie Shaw (with guest Roy Eldridge), Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and---of course!---Guy Lombardo. It was a gift to our troops then and it's a perfect gift for our troops---and New Year's Eve shut-ins---today. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Auld Lang Syne is Robert Burns most famous song, and the second most sung song in the English language. Yet, most people have no idea what it means, or where it came from.In this episode I tell you where the lyrics for Auld Lang Syne came from, where the famous tune came from, and what the song is actually about! I explain all the difficult Scottish words so that you can finally understand this song that you have been singing for years.listen to this episode and never be confused again whilst singing Auld Lang Syne.I also explain why it is so popular.....PLEASE NOTE: I say in this episode that George Thomson published 'The Scots Musical Museum' , this is wrong, he published 'Select Scottish Airs', which Burns contributed heavily to. It was James Johnson who published 'The Scots Musical Museum'. He produced six volumes between 1787 and 1803. Robert Burns was the main contributor and virtual editor of the volumes until his death in 1796. Stephen Clarke was the musical editor.Cheers! Alastair

Episode 290, Strictly 1940s, features 18 recordings that would have been familiar to most adults in the 1940s. Performers include Dinah Shore, Buddy Clark, Lester Lanin, Guy Lombardo, Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter, Margaret Whiting, Mel... Read More The post Episode 290, Strictly 1940s appeared first on Sam Waldron.

Songs include: No Strings, No Arms Can Ever Hold You, No Moon At All, No Other Love, Time Waits For No One and No Can Do. Performers include: Ella Mae Morse, Perry Como, Fred Astaire, Helen Forrest, Guy Lombardo and Pat Boone. 

Songs about the passing of time, including: Time Changes Everything, Every Night About This Time, Time After Time, Moonlight Savings Time, As Time Goes By and Time Waits For No One.  Performers include: Dooley Wilson the Ink Spots, Helen Merrill, Artie Shaw, Guy Lombardo, Frank Sinatra and Harry James. 

Once again we reach into my dad's stack of shellac records where we pull out another big name among the early record labels…Decca. It's a label that saw its share of some of the biggest names in the recording industry. Several you have heard on this show. And if you're watching the video version, you'll see that I pulled out my old timey RCA Ribbon mic. I thought it would give this show extra atmosphere. So get ready to hear an array of artists all recorded during the 1940s in Volume 148: 8 Sides From Decca. Credits and copyrights Wedding Bells - Four Aces (Are Breaking up the Old Gang of Mine) With Chorus and Orchestra Directed by Jack Plies Written by Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal, and Willie Raskin Released April 1954 Three Coins in the Fountain - Four Aces Featuring Al Alberts From the 20th Century Fox film of the same name. With Chorus and Orchestra Directed by Jack Plies Written by Juli Styne and Sammy Cahn Released April 1954 Sabre Dance - Victor Young and his Concert Orchestra From Cayne Ballet Suite. Written by Aram Khachaturian Released in July 1943 For Whom The Bell Tolls - Victor Young and his Concert Orchestra The Massacre and Love Them from the Paramount Picture of the same name. Written by Victor Young Released in July 1943 Jolly Fella Tarantella - The Andrews Sisters, backed by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians The Organ Grinder's Song Written by Dick Manning recorded on July 19, 1949 Stars are the Windows of Heaven - The Andrews Sisters, backed by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians Written by Tommy Malie and Jimmy Steiger. recorded on July 19, 1949 The Matador - Carmen Miranda with the Andrews Sisters with Vic Shoen and His Orchestra Written by Joao DeBarro, Alberto Ribeiro, Ray Gilbert and Bob Russell Released in September 1948 Cuanto La Gusta - Carmen Miranda with the Andrews Sisters with Vic Shoen and His Orchestra From the MGM Picture a Date With Judy. Written by Gabriel Ruiz and Ray Gilbert Released in September 1948 I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

Features vintage recordings by Sammy Kaye, Lucky Millinder and Guy Lombardo.  We also learn a little bit about water safety from an educational film about the topic released in 1953. Consider supporting The Big Band and Swing Podcast by becoming a Hepcat.  Learn more at SupportSwing.com. * All music in this podcast are Creative Commons.  Artists are credited within the podcast.

"Is That All There Is?", a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s, became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee and an award winner from her album of the same title in November 1969. The song was originally performed by Georgia Brown in May 1967 for a television special. It was first recorded by disc jockey Dan Daniel in March 1968, but this was an unauthorized recording that, while played on Daniel's own radio show, went unissued at the songwriters' request. The first authorized recording was by Leslie Uggams in August 1968. Then came the hit Peggy Lee version in August 1969, followed by Guy Lombardo in 1969 and Tony Bennett on 22 December 1969.[2]Peggy Lee's version reached number 11 on the U.S. pop singles chart — becoming her first Top 40 pop hit since "Fever" eleven years earlier—and doing even better on the adult contemporary scene, topping that Billboardchart. It also reached number six in Canada. It won Lee the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and then later was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame.The orchestral arrangement on the song was composed by Randy Newman, who played the piano in the slower introduction section,[3] and who also conducted the orchestra.[4]LyricsThe lyrics of this song are written from the point of view of a person who is disillusioned with events in life that are supposedly unique experiences. The singer tells of witnessing her family's house on fire when she was a little girl, seeing the circus, and falling in love for the first time. After each recital, she expresses her disappointment in the experience. She suggests that we "break out the booze and have a ball—if that's all there is," instead of worrying about life. She explains that she'll never kill herself either because she knows that death will be a disappointment as well. The verses of the song are spoken, rather than sung. Only the refrain of the song is sung.

1 - Dark Night - Frank Munn with Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra - 19302 - Still in the Dark - Joe Turner - 19463 - Blues in the Dark - James Rushing with Count Basie and his Orchestra - 19384 - Whispers in the Dark - Bernice Parkes with Music in the Russ Morgan Manner - 19375 - Romance in the Dark - Mabel Robinson with The 4 Blackamoors - 19406 - In the Dark - George Baker, baritone. Words by A. A. Milne; music by H. Fraser-Simson - 19297 - Midnight Reflections - Paul Whiteman Orchestra - 19288 - Dancing in the Dark - The Revelers - 19319 - Dancing in the Dark - Bea Wain with Orchestra under the direction of Walter Gross - 194010 - Dark is the Night - Kenny Martin with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.11 - Lady in the Dark - Phil Green and his Theatreland Orchestra - 194412 - He's Tall Dark and Handsome - Parker Gibbs with The Ted Weems Orchestra - 192813 - Kto Má Pociernú Galanku (Dark-Haired Sweetheart) - E. Janśak with Slovenskej Cigánskej Bandy14 - Ich Hab Dich Lieb, Braune Madonna (I Love You, Dark Madonna) - Eric Helgar with Hollywood Tanz-Orchester - 193115 - A Moment in the Dark - Johnny Russell with Jerry Freeman and his Orchestra - 193616 - A Lo Oscuro - Angel Viloria y su Conjunto Tipico Cibaeno17 - Long About Midnight - Mildred Bailey and her Orchestra - 1936

Episode #263, Breaking Up, presents 17 songs about the bitter end of romantic relationships. Performers include Roy Clark, Kitty Wells, Guy Lombardo, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and 11 more.   Episode... Read More The post Episode #263, Breaking Up appeared first on Sam Waldron.

Features vintage recordings by Stan Kenton, Peggy Lee and Guy Lombardo.  We also listen to an interesting Dean Hudson track that I'm sure you will enjoy. Consider supporting The Big Band and Swing Podcast by becoming a Hepcat.  Learn more at SupportSwing.com. * All music in this podcast are Creative Commons.  Artists are credited within the podcast.

Episode 247, I Love the 40s Vol. 1, presents 17 recordings Sam Waldron never gets tired of. Performers include Buddy Clark, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Scatman Cruthers, Les and Larry Elgart, Guy Lombardo, Frank Sinatra... Read More The post Episode 247, I Love the 40s Vol. 1 appeared first on Sam Waldron.

In this special holiday episode we bring in the new year by being complete and total haters! We keep it real light and breezy for this short little convo. We drag Auld Lang Syne, the concept of New Years' resolutions, the very notion of historical dates, and also for some reason the city of Boston. At one point the discussion turns into an unboxing video, which is great content for a podcast, famously a visual medium. Oh and we read Antonio Gramsci's 1916 essay “I Hate New Year's Day”. We're just having some fun with it! Happy new year to you all!(Sorry about the spotty audio quality—we all called in to record from our various holiday locales and didn't have our best hardware on us!)leftofphilosophy.com | @leftofphilReferences:Antonio Gramsci, “I Hate New Year's Day”, trans. Alberto Toscano, Viewpoint Magazine | https://viewpointmag.com/2015/01/01/i-hate-new-years-day/Music:Vintage Memories by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.comAuld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo (1947) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SID1FS7RclgAuld Lang Syne - Bad Recorder Cover by Brizzy Brit | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcrIvOmoxRc

Welcome to December 31, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate memorable wines and forgettable songs.  Nothing says celebration like a good champagne, and while the genuine article comes only from the Champagne region of France, there are plenty of good bubbly wines from California and Italy. If you've ever wondered why bottles of Dom Perignon fetch up to $50,000 a bottle, it's because Dom only produces wine during years when the grapes have reached top quality. That means that since they opened in 1921 they have only produced 36 vintages. If splurging at that price point is not your thing, just pop open a bottle of your favorite sparkling beverage. On National Champagne Day we toast to your health and good fortune and hope you'll remember to always drink responsibly.  Auld Lang Syne is sometimes referred to as the most famous song that nobody knows, and that's not only because people have been drinking before they sing it. Written by Robert Burns, the phrase is Scottish and roughly translates to days gone by. Somewhere along the way, it was set to music and became a traditional Scottish song. So how did it come to be associated with New Years Eve? For that we can thank the famous bandleader Guy Lombardo. Beginning in the 1920s, he played the song on his New Years Eve radio show, and for the next 30 New Years after that. We thank you for joining us during 2022 and on New Year's Eve we welcome all that 2023 has to offer! I'm Anna Devere and I'm Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy New Year to everyone as we welcome in the New Year. On the show today is a repeat of program I produced in 2016 called New Year's Radio Dance Party 1945-1946. The Armed Forces Radio Service gave a real treat to American troops still stationed around the world in the aftermath of World War II---live performances, by remote hookups from their respective New Year's Eve hotel and/or ballroom performances. We'll get to hear some of the titans of the time in American jazz and popular music. Including but not limited to Harry James, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Dorsey, Artie Shaw (with guest Roy Eldridge), Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and---of course!---Guy Lombardo. It was a gift to our troops then and it's a perfect gift for our troops---and New Year's Eve shut-ins---today. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Re-Imagined Radio sampled New Year's Eve episodes of The Whistler and Guy Lombardo's New Year's Eve Party to celebrate the start of 2021. Broadcasts and streams by our local, regional, and international partners.  January, named for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, is noted for New Year's Eve, an opportunity to reflect and celebrate both the previous and upcoming years. The "New Year" episode of Re-Imagined Radio sampled two stories, one from The Whistler the other from Guy Lombardo's New Year's Eve Party, about this unique opportunity. From The Whistler we sampled "The First Year," the December 31, 1947 episode in which a rich uncle decides to teach his niece, Lydia, the true value of matrimony by changing his will to require her and her husband, Elliott, to stay married for ten years before they inherit. If one of them dies, the other inherits everything. The story begins and ends on New Year's Eve of "The First Year" of their marriage. The Whistler broadcast 692 episodes from 16 May 1942 to 22 September 1955. Each episode began with a 13-note theme composed by musical director Wilbur Hatch and whistled by Dorothy Roberts who worked at Lockheed. Roberts whistled the beginning of each episode of The Whistler the thirteen-year series. Additional compositions by Hatch added drama and transitions during the episodes. Hatch was also musical director and composed for other CBS radio programs like Suspense, Broadway Is My Beat, Our Miss Brooks, and others. Ironically, most of America could not hear The Whistler as it was confined to the CBS Pacific Coast network where the program's sponsor, Signal Oil Company, had a presence. Despite this lack of national distribution, The Whistler was considered one of the most popular of all American radio mystery anthologies, and its whistled theme was known to millions. Each episode focused on criminal acts and their surprise undoing, narrated by the unnamed and omnipresent Whistler who often commented directly on the action like a Greek chorus. Next we sampled from Guy Lombardo's New Year's Eve Party broadcast live from The Grill Room in the Roosevelt Hotel, New York City, December 31, 1957. Lombardo, born and raised in London, Ontario, Canada, founded his orchestra in 1914 with brothers Carmen, Victor, and Lebert. In America, Lombardo and his orchestra wore bright red blazers and called themselves "The Royal Canadians." They became synonymous with New Year's Eve celebrations, performing for live nationwide radio broadcasts from 1929 (the first nationwide New Year's eve broadcast) until 1976. Beginning in 1956, Guy Lombardo and The Royal Canadians began broadcasting their New Year's Eve Party on both radio and television with each celebration featuring a televised segment from New York's Times Square. From these years of live performances, Lombardo is noted as "Mr. New Year's Eve" and is honored as providing the theme song for these celebrations, "Auld Lang Syne" a traditional Scottish folk song based on the poem of the same title written by Robert Burns in 1788. The poem-song is about two friends reflecting over drinks about their long and sometimes distant friendship. The title best translates as "Old long since," or "For the sake of old times." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's show, after a 1982 Descendents refrain: brand new Beatles, Sloan, I Was a King, Wet Leg, Black Nite Crash, Robert Forster, and Sadies; plus Pete Ham, Little Willie John, Hank Snow, Fats Domino, Electric Light Orchestra, Guy Lombardo & His R...

Songs include: Remember Me, September In the Rain, Goodnight My Love, You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming and Whispers In the Dark. Musicians Include: Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.

Episode 101. James B and Eddie discuss three issues of The Amazing Spider-Man and the conclusion of the Jackal and “Gwen Stacy returns” storylines. Also, Eddie and James B debate cloning and which book was best   Eddie discusses his top two favorite villain costumes and James B discusses how his ancestor appears in a Spider-Man comic! (00:50) The Amazing Spider-Man 149 (10:54) The Amazing Spider-Man 150 (15:57) The Amazing Spider-Man 151 (23:20) A New Sponsor Joins the Show Theme Music by Jeff Kenniston,  Sponsor Bassline by Eddie with assistance from Guy Lombardo. Shocker's outfit provided by Irving Forbush. This Episode Edited by James B with assistance from James B's clone. Most Sound effects and music generously provided royalty free by www.fesliyanstudios.com except for any of the following if used: Squaks, Pouring Water, Wolf Sounds, Door Entering, Cough, Goofy Beeps and Tea Kettle by https://www.zapsplat.com/ Phone and Ambulance by freesoundslibrary, Record Scratch and Jet Take Off by Sound Effects Factory, Sexy Music by BenSound, Goblin Glider by Hollywood Edge, Gameshow music by Misc with permission, and and Eddie's laugh by Eddie's Clone. Check out all the episodes on letsreadspiderman.podbean.com or wherever you get your podcasts!  You can also reach out to us on Twitter @letsreadspidey Find the podcasts on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoKSfjDVKvj5C5lkjQvUByA/?sub_confirmation=1 and proudly be one of our first subscribers.   Join us live on July 25th, 2022 at 8:00 ET for a special celebration.  Check out episode 100 for more details.

The biggest names in Hollywood and Broadway recorded for AFRS during the war years, The American Forces Network can trace its origins back to May 26, 1942, when the War Department established the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). The U.S. Army began broadcasting from London during World War II, using equipment and studio facilities borrowed from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The first transmission to U.S. troops began at 5:45 p.m. on July 4, 1943, and included less than five hours of recorded shows, a BBC news and sports broadcast. That day, Corporal Syl Binkin became the first U.S. Military broadcasters heard over the air. The signal was sent from London via telephone lines to five regional transmitters to reach U.S. troops in the United Kingdom as they prepared for the inevitable invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. Fearing competition for civilian audiences the BBC initially tried to impose restrictions on AFN broadcasts within Britain (transmissions were only allowed from American Bases outside London and were limited to 50 watts of transmission power) and a minimum quota of British produced programming had to be carried. Nevertheless AFN programmes were widely enjoyed by the British civilian listeners who could receive them and once AFN operations transferred to continental Europe (shortly after D-Day) AFN were able to broadcast with little restriction with programmes available to civilian audiences across most of Europe (including Britain) after dark. As D-Day approached, the network joined with the BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to develop programs especially for the Allied Expeditionary Forces. Mobile stations, complete with personnel, broadcasting equipment, and a record library were deployed to broadcast music and news to troops in the field. The mobile stations reported on front line activities and fed the news reports back to studio locations in London. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Entertainment Radio Stations Live 24/7 Sherlock Holmes/CBS Radio Mystery Theater https://live365.com/station/Sherlock-Holmes-Classic-Radio--a91441 https://live365.com/station/CBS-Radio-Mystery-Theater-a57491 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this Podcast Extra of "The Big Band and Swing Podcast" we celebrate the birthday of violinist and bandleader - Guy Lombardo.  Guy was born on June 19, 1902 in London, Ontario in Canada. * All music in this podcast are Creative Commons.  Artists are credited within the podcast.

Songs include:Row,Row. Row, Riverboat Shuffle, On a Slow Boat to China, Ferryboat Serenade, On the Good Ship Lollypop, Sloop John B. and Sit Down, You're Rockin the Boat. Performers include: Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbeck, The Andrews Sisters, Guy Lombardo, Thomas Fats Waller and Art Lund.

Episode one hundred and thirty-one of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “I Hear a Symphony” by the Supremes, and is the start of a three-episode look at Motown in 1965. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on "Rescue Me" by Fontella Bass. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this week, as too many of the songs were by the Supremes. For Motown-related information in this and other Motown episodes, I've used the following resources: Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound by Nelson George is an excellent popular history of the various companies that became Motown. To Be Loved by Berry Gordy is Gordy's own, understandably one-sided, but relatively well-written, autobiography. Women of Motown: An Oral History by Susan Whitall is a collection of interviews with women involved in Motown. I Hear a Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B by J. Andrew Flory is an academic look at Motown. The Motown Encyclopaedia by Graham Betts is an exhaustive look at the people and records involved in Motown's thirty-year history. How Sweet It Is by Lamont Dozier and Scott B. Bomar is Dozier's autobiography, while Come and Get These Memories by Brian and Eddie Holland and Dave Thompson is the Holland brothers'. And Motown Junkies is an infrequently-updated blog looking at (so far) the first 694 tracks released on Motown singles. Girl Groups by John Clemente contains potted biographies of many groups of the era. The Supremes biography I relied on most is The Supremes by Mark Ribowsky, which seems factually accurate but questionable in its judgments of people. I also used this omnibus edition of Mary Wilson's two volumes of autobiography. This box set contains everything you could want by the Supremes, but is extraordinarily expensive in physical form at the moment, though cheap as MP3s. This is a good budget substitute, though oddly doesn't contain “Stop in the Name of Love”. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Hi, this is Andrew. Between recording this episode and it going live, three great musicians, two of whom have been the subject of episodes of this podcast, sadly died. We lost Don Everly, Charlie Watts, and Tom T. Hall, and I just wanted to acknowledge them and their contributions to music before the episode starts. They'll all be missed. [theme music] Just a brief note before we start to say that this episode contains brief mentions of eating disorders, so if that might be a problem for you, check the transcript to make sure it's safe. Thanks. We've spent much of the last few months looking at the intersections of three different movements, each of which was important -- the influence of the Beatles and to a lesser extent the other Merseybeat bands, the influence of Bob Dylan and the folk and protest movement, and the British R&B guitar bands who were taking their interpretation of the sound of Chess Records back to the USA. But of course, while these guitar bands were all influencing everyone, they were also being influenced by the growth of soul, and in particular by Motown, and Motown's groups were among the few American acts who managed to keep having hits during the British Invasion. Indeed, 1965 was as much of a creative and commercial peak for the label as for the white guitar bands we've been looking at. So for the next few weeks we're going to move over to Detroit, and we're going to look at Motown. And this week and next week we're going to continue our look at the Holland-Dozier-Holland collaboration, and at the groups they were writing for. So today, we're going to look at the Supremes, at the career of the only Black act to seriously challenge the Beatles for chart dominance in the sixties and at the start of the inter-group rivalries that eventually took them down. We're going to look at "I Hear a Symphony” by the Supremes: [Excerpt: The Supremes, "I Hear a Symphony"] When we last looked at the Supremes, they had just had their second number one single. After having spent years being called "the no-hit Supremes" and recording third-rate material like "The Man With the Rock and Roll Banjo Band", they'd been taken on by Holland, Dozier, and Holland, Motown's new star songwriting team, and had recorded two songs written and produced by the team -- "Where Did Our Love Go?" and "Baby Love" -- both of which had reached number one. But there were already tensions in the group. Most notably, there was the tension between Florence Ballard and Diana Ross. Ballard had always considered herself the lead singer of the group, and almost everyone who knew the group at the time agreed that Ballard was the better singer. But Berry Gordy, the owner of Motown, thought that Ross was the member of the group who had actual star potential, and insisted that she be the lead vocalist on everything the Supremes cut. At first, this didn't matter too much -- after all, no matter who the lead singer on the records was, they were having the huge hits they'd always dreamed of -- but it inevitably led to friction within the group. But in late 1964, at least, everyone was on the same page. Berry Gordy, in particular, was delighted by the group's continued success -- they had been the *only* act other than the Beatles or Bobby Vinton to have more than one number one on the pop charts in 1964 -- and by the end of the year, they had released their third, "Come See About Me". "Come See About Me" actually got released only a month after "Baby Love", before the latter had even reached the top of the charts, and it seems like a ridiculous idea to release another single so close to that one. But it came out so early to make sure the Supremes had the hit with it. Because a soundalike had come out on Wand Records even before the Supremes' single came out. A fourteen-year-old girl called Nella Dodds had decided that she could sing quite a bit like Diana Ross, and since the Supremes were the biggest female group in the country at this point, she had a chance at being a star, too. She'd auditioned for Wand by singing along with the whole of the first Supremes album, and Wand Records had decided that she sounded enough like Ross that it was worth a shot putting out a single by her. They chose "Come See About Me", which had been released as an album track on that album, and put out this: [Excerpt: Nella Dodds, "Come See About Me"] Dodds' version of the track was cut to be a soundalike, and was so similar to the Supremes version that it's actually quite easy to cut between the two records. You can hear the joins, but they're *spookily* similar: [Excerpt: The Supremes and Nella Dodds, "Come See About Me", alternating phrases] That wasn't the only time a Holland-Dozier-Holland production would be copied wholesale -- we'll hear another, slightly less blatant, example later this episode. As Dodds' single started to rise up the charts, Berry Gordy got furious. If the record sounded good enough to be a hit single, his label was going to have the hit with it, and so the Supremes' version of "Come See About Me" was rush-released. It went to number one, and Nella Dodds vanished into obscurity. The group having three number one hits in a row focused everyone's minds, and Gordy held a meeting with Holland, Dozier, and Holland, and told them that from that point on the Supremes had to be their number one priority. They should drop everything they were doing and concentrate on making Supremes hits while the Supremes were having their moment of success. And so of course they did just that -- and in January 1965 they recorded the album which would contain the Supremes' fourth number one in a row: [Excerpt: The Supremes, "Stop! In the Name of Love"] The story of how "Stop! In the Name of Love" was conceived tells us a lot about the kind of life that the people at Motown were living, now they were all successful and making a great deal of money. The way Lamont Dozier tells the story, his marriage had fallen apart, and he was sleeping with multiple women, some of whom thought they were the only one. Dozier would regularly head to a motel near Hitsville for some of these assignations, and one day while he was there with one of his women, another one tracked him down. The woman he was with made her escape, and Dozier tried to make excuses, claiming he had just got very tired at work and booked a motel room to have a rest so he wouldn't have to go all the way home. His girlfriend didn't believe this rather transparent lie, and started throwing things at him. Dozier started yelling at her to stop it, and eventually mangled the phrase "Stop in the name of the law", shouting instead "Stop in the name of love!" Dozier immediately saw this line as the basis of a song, and his burst of inspiration amused the woman, who started laughing. It defused the situation, and led to a hit record. [Excerpt: The Supremes, "Stop! In the Name of Love"] Indeed, Dozier wasn't the only one whose experiences made up part of the lyrics for the song. All three of Holland, Dozier, and Holland were having complex love lives and going through the breakup of their first marriages. Eddie Holland has said that he used his own experiences in that regard in writing the lyrics to that song. All three men were having affairs with multiple women, but two of those affairs were important in their working lives -- Brian Holland was dating Diana Ross, while Lamont Dozier was seeing Mary Wilson. According to Eddie Holland, Florence seemed to think that this meant that the  remaining members of their respective trios should also pair up, but Holland didn't think that he should get involved, given Florence's mental fragility and his own promiscuous nature. Both Lamont and Brian later split up with their respective Supremes partners, but luckily everyone was professional enough that they were all able to continue working together. After "Stop! In the Name of Love" came "Back in Your Arms Again", making five number ones in a row for the combination of the Supremes and Holland-Dozier-Holland. On top of this, Holland-Dozier-Holland were busily making hits for the Four Tops, who we'll hear more about next week, and for the Isley Brothers, as well as writing odd songs for other artists like Marvin Gaye. To put this into perspective, at this point the *only* act ever to have had five number ones in a row on the US charts was Elvis, who had done it twice. The Beatles were about to hit their fifth, and would eventually get to six number ones in a row -- they had eleven in the UK, but many more Beatles singles were released in the US than in the UK, so there were more opportunities to break the streak. That was the company the Supremes were in. It's important to stress how big the Supremes, Motown, and Holland-Dozier-Holland were in 1965. There were twenty-seven Billboard number one singles that year, and six of them were from Motown -- compared to five from the Beatles and two from the Rolling Stones. Of those six number one Motown singles, five of them were Holland-Dozier-Holland productions, and four were by the Supremes. Of course, number one records are not the only measure of success in the music industry, but they are definitely a measure. By that measure, the Supremes were bigger than anyone except the Beatles, but this led to a certain amount of dissatisfaction among the rest of the Motown acts. They were being told that a rising tide would lift all boats, but the way they saw it, everyone who wasn't a Supreme was being ignored, unless they were named Smokey Robinson or Marvin Gaye. The Vandellas, for example, thought that records like "Dancing in the Street", which made number two in the charts, could have easily made number one had they been given the same kind of promotion as the Supremes. This was, to them, particularly evident when it came to the first British tour of the Motortown Revue, in March 1965. While the various Motown acts were on tour in the UK, the opportunity came up to do a TV special for Granada TV, presented by Dusty Springfield, who was the driving force behind the special. Springfield was particularly an admirer of Martha and the Vandellas, and got Martha to duet with her on her own hit "Wishin' and Hopin'": [Excerpt: Dusty Springfield and Martha Reeves, "Wishin' and Hopin'"] Yet while all the acts on the tour -- the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, the Miracles, and the Temptations -- got their moments in the spotlight on the show, the Supremes did seem to dominate it, with more songs than any of the other acts. This was partly just good sense -- Motown was only just starting to have a presence in the UK, and to the extent it did the Supremes were almost the only Motown artists that had made any impression on the public consciousness at all at this point -- but it was also because Berry Gordy was becoming increasingly infatuated with Diana Ross, and they finally consummated their relationship in Paris at the end of the tour. Now, it is important to note here that this is always portrayed in every book about the group or Motown as "scheming Diana Ross used her feminine wiles to seduce hapless Berry Gordy, who was helplessly under her spell.” That's certainly one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is that Berry Gordy was a thirty-five-year-old married man sleeping with an employee of his who had only just turned twenty-one, and who had been his employee for several years. I wouldn't mention any of this at all -- I despise the gossiping nature of much music writing -- except that it is impossible to read anything at all about the Supremes without getting a take on the group's career from this point on that has Ross using her sexuality to manipulate Gordy in order to fulfil her own scheming ambition. I think there's no question at all that Ross was ambitious, but I think most of the narrative about her is rooted in misogyny, and a very deep misunderstanding of the power dynamics in her relationship with Gordy. But there is absolutely no question that Gordy saw the Supremes as the most important act on Motown -- and that he saw Diana Ross as the most important part of the Supremes. And decisions made for the benefit of Ross were not always decisions that would benefit her colleagues. For example, at this point in time, the fashion was for women to be very curvy, rather than thin. Ross was extremely thin, and so the group's outfits were padded. This wasn't such a problem for Mary, who had her own issues about a lack of curves, but for Florence, who was bigger than the other two, it was humiliating, because it made her look bigger than she was, and there was no question of the padding being removed from her clothes -- the decisions were being made on the basis of what made Diana look good. Of course, fashions change, and with the rise of the supermodel Twiggy, suddenly a more emaciated look became popular, so the group were able to drop the padding -- but that still left Florence as the unfashionable-looking one. She became deeply insecure about this, though she would hide it with humour -- after Twiggy became popular, there was a scripted bit of the show where Ross would say "thin is in", and Florence ad libbed "but fat is where it's at!", and her ad lib became part of the routine. After the Supremes' run of five number one singles, it might have seemed that they were invulnerable, but in September 1965, "Nothing But Heartaches" came out, and it only made number eleven: [Excerpt: The Supremes, “Nothing But Heartaches”] For any other act, this would be a major hit, but for an act that had had five number one hits in a row, it was a failure, and it was treated as such, even though it sold over a million copies. Berry Gordy actually sent out a memo to all Motown creative staff, saying "We will release nothing less than top ten product on any artist: and because the Supremes' world-wide acceptance is greater than the other artists, on them we will only release number-one records". Of course, that was easier said than done -- every songwriter and producer wanted only to be making number one records, after all, but it's a symptom of the attitudes that were showing up at Motown by this point -- a number eleven hit for a group that two years earlier had been laughed at for being the "no hit Supremes" was now regarded as a failure to be punished, while major successes were just to be considered the norm. But it's also a tribute to how successful Holland, Dozier, and Holland were by this point that the next Supremes single was, once again, another number one hit. The inspiration for "I Hear a Symphony" came from Dozier thinking about how characters in films often had musical motifs on the soundtrack, and how ridiculous it would be if people in real life walked around with their own musical accompaniments. But it might also be that the writing trio had something else in mind. In August, just over a month before the recording of "I Hear a Symphony", a girl group called The Toys had released a single called "A Lover's Concerto": [Excerpt: The Toys, "A Lover's Concerto"] That song had been based on a piece of music usually incorrectly attributed to Bach, but actually by the Baroque composer Christian Petzold, and had been written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, two writers who usually wrote for the Four Seasons, whose four-on-the-floor style was very similar to that of Holland, Dozier, and Holland. Linzer and Randell had even put in a little nod to the Supremes in the song. Compare the intro of the Toys record: [Excerpt: The Toys, "A Lover's Concerto"] With the intro from "Stop! In the Name of Love!": [Excerpt: The Supremes, "Stop! In the Name of Love!"] The section from eight through sixteen seconds on the Toys record is so close to the section from eleven through nineteen seconds on the Supremes one that you can play them almost together -- I had to do a tiny splice five seconds in here because the musicians on the Toys record don't have the perfect timing of the Funk Brothers and drifted by 0.1 seconds, but I hope you can see just how close those two sections are: [Excerpt: The Supremes and The Toys together] See what I mean? The Toys' record reached number two on the charts -- not a number one, but better than the most recent Supremes record. So it might well be that Holland, Dozier, and Holland were also thinking about the Toys' record when they came to make their new one -- especially since it had contained a little nod to their own work. And the odd thing about that section is it's not integral to the Toys record at all -- it's just there, I think, as a nod and a wink to anyone listening for it. Certainly, Holland, Dozier, and Holland were aware of the Toys record -- they had the Supremes cut a cover version of it for the I Hear a Symphony album. That album also contained the Supremes' version of the Beatles' "Yesterday" -- another hit which had, of course, referenced classical music, with its string quartet backing. One hit record referencing classical music might be a fluke, but two was a pattern, and so whatever the writers' later claims about the inspiration, it's reasonable to suspect that at the very least they were paying close attention to this pattern. The lyrics to "I Hear a Symphony" were written in a rush. The original plan had been for the group to release a song called "Mother Dear" as their next single, but then Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier came up with the track and title for "I Hear a Symphony", and knew it would be a winner. There was one problem, though -- the single needed to be out relatively quickly, and the Supremes were travelling to the UK in two days' time. When the instrumental track had been cut, Brian Holland phoned his brother, waking him up, and telling him they needed a set of lyrics for the very next day. Holland was actually already a little burned out that day -- he'd just been working on "Road Runner" by Junior Walker and the All-Stars, which was intended as the follow-up to their big hit "Shotgun": [Excerpt: Junior Walker and the All-Stars, "(I'm a) Road Runner"] At least, Holland says that was what he was working on, though it came out five months later – but Motown often delayed releases by minor acts. "Road Runner" was not normal Holland-Dozier-Holland material, it had been difficult to write, and not only that they'd discovered that Walker couldn't play the saxophone part in the same keys that he could sing the song, so they'd had to varispeed the track in order to get both parts down. Holland had had a tiring day, and had just gone to sleep when the phone had rung. Brian Holland had a copy of the backing track couriered over to Eddie in the middle of the night, and Eddie stayed up all night writing the lyrics, eventually finishing them in the studio while he was teaching Diana Ross the song: [Excerpt: The Supremes, "I Hear a Symphony"] Because it had to be recorded in such a hurry, the Supremes were in London when the mixing was finalised -- as was Berry Gordy, who normally ran Motown's quality control meetings, the meetings in which the executives and producers all checked all the work that was going out to make sure it met the company's standards. Normally, if Gordy was out of town, Brian Holland would take over the meeting, but a new Supremes single was important enough to Gordy that he made an international phone call to the meeting and listened to the record over the phone. Gordy insisted that the vocal was too high in the mix, but Brian Holland pushed back, and Gordy eventually agreed to let the record go out as it was, despite his reservations. He agreed that he had been wrong when the record went to number one. It wouldn't start another streak of number ones, but the next eight singles would all go top ten, and the group would have another six number ones, including a streak of four in late 1966 and early 1967. There were other records, as well -- Christmas singles (which don't tend to get counted as "real singles", because Christmas records got put on their own special charts), and promotional efforts, like "Things Are Changing For The Better". That was a song that Brian Wilson and Mike Love of the Beach Boys had originally written for the Ronettes, under the title "Don't Hurt My Little Sister", but while Spector had cut a backing track, the song hadn't been considered worth the Ronettes adding their vocals, and the Beach Boys had cut their own version as an album track: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Don't Hurt My Little Sister"] But a year later, the Advertising Council wanted a public information song, to promote the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the subsequent Voting Rights Act of 1965, two landmark acts that between them meant that for the first time discrimination against Black people wasn't legal. They turned to Spector to come up with something, and Spector, not wanting to waste a hit on them, came up with some new lyrics for the unused backing track, using the various slogans the Advertising Council wanted. Spector got his assistant Jerry Riopelle to finish the track off, and three versions were cut with different vocals over the same backing track. Riopelle produced a version with the Blossoms on vocals, another version was performed by the white pop group Jay and the Americans, and finally Motown put out a version with the Supremes singing over Spector's track. It's not the greatest track ever recorded or anything, but it is the only collaboration between the three biggest American hit-makers of the early sixties -- the Beach Boys, Spector, and the Supremes -- even if they didn't actually work together on it, and so "Things Are Changing For The Better" is interesting as a capsule of American pop music in 1965: [Excerpt: The Supremes, "Things Are Changing For The Better"] But Gordy had plans for the Supremes that involved them moving away from being merely pop stars, and the title of “I Hear a Symphony” worked well for Gordy's plans. Like Sam Cooke before them, he wanted them to move into the more lucrative middle-class white market, and like Sam Cooke that meant playing the Copacabana. We talked a little about the Copacabana -- or the Copa as it was universally known -- in the episode on "A Change is Gonna Come", but it's hard to get across now what an important venue it was. It was a mob-controlled nightclub in New York, and while it was only a nightclub, not a huge-capacity venue, headlining there was considered a sign that an act had made it and become part of the elite. If you could headline at the Copacabana in the early sixties, you were no longer a transitory pop act who might be gone tomorrow, you were up there with Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis Jr and Martin and Lewis. Of course, that whole showbusiness world has largely gone now, and the entertainment industry was going through massive changes in the early sixties that would soon make whether an act had headlined at the Copa as irrelevant to their future prospects as where they had gone to school, but nobody at the time knew that the changes that were happening -- thanks in large part to labels like Motown -- were going to be lasting ones, rather than just fads. So Gordy decided that his flagship group were going to headline at the Copa -- even though he had to agree to a deal which meant that for their initial three-week residency  the group members only made sixty dollars a show each before expenses. And they were going to do a "classy" show. Yes, they would include a few of the hits, but most of the songs would be things like "Somewhere" from West Side Story, the Barbra Streisand song "People" -- which would be Florence's one lead vocal in the show -- the Guy Lombardo song "Enjoy Yourself, It's Later Than You Think", and of all things "Rock-a-bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody": [Excerpt: The Supremes, "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody"] The rest of the repertoire was show tunes, a gender-swapped version of "The Girl From Ipanema" retitled "The Boy From Ipanema", a parody of Roger Miller's "King of the Road" titled "Queen of the House", and a medley of Sam Cooke's hits. Other than the Cooke material and the brief run-throughs of their own number ones, the setlist was tailored entirely for the Copa's clientele, which barely overlapped at all with the Motown audience. The Copa residency was a triumph, and led to the Supremes making regular appearances at the venue for seven years, but it came at a great cost to the group members. Ross was so stressed she lost a stone of her already low weight, the first sign of the anorexia which she would deal with for many years to come. Meanwhile, Florence had to miss a chunk of the rehearsals as she became seriously ill with the flu, though she got herself well enough to make the opening night. And while it was what Berry Gordy had been working towards for years, it couldn't have come at a worse time for him personally -- his elder sister Loucye died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage shortly before the residency, and her funeral was actually the morning of the opening night. The opening night went exactly as Gordy had planned, except for one ad-lib -- during the song "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You", after Ross sang the line “But gold won't bring you happiness,” Florence interjected a joking line -- "Now wait a minute, honey. I don't know about all that." The audience loved her ad-lib -- Sammy Davis Jr., who was in the audience, yelled out "All right, girl! You tell it like it is!" -- and the line got added as a regular part of the performance: [Excerpt: The Supremes, “You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You”] along with a rather less fun bit where Florence would mention "little old me", and Ross would snarkily respond "Little?" But even though it worked, Gordy was furious, partly just because he was understandably in a bad mood after his sister's funeral, partly because it was a deviation from the carefully-scripted performance, and partly because it was a moment in the spotlight for someone other than Diana Ross. As retaliation, a couple of days later he had Harvey Fuqua tell the group that they were dropping "People" -- Florence's only lead vocal -- from the set because there were too many show tunes. Then, a week or so later, "People" was added back to the set, but with Ross singing lead. (Mary Wilson had also asked to have her own lead vocal in the set, but Gordy had just looked at her sadly and said "Mary, you know you can't sing".) Florence was devastated. She was already drinking too much, but that escalated after the Copa engagement. Even though the group had never been as close as many groups are, they had all genuinely attempted to create a bond with each other, even all moving on to the same street. But now, that physical closeness just became an opportunity for the women to note the comings and goings at each other's houses and pass snarky comment on it. Ballard was fast becoming considered a liability by the powers that be at Motown, and even the existence of the Supremes was starting to be seen as something that was merely a hindrance for Diana Ross' career, rather than them being seen for what they were -- a massively successful group, not just a lead singer and her backing vocalists. Florence wasn't very long for the group, and when we next look at them, we'll no longer be looking at the Supremes, but at Diana Ross and the Supremes...